Well, UPS finally pulled their head out of… er… I mean, figured out what was going on. They somehow managed to retrieve my communicator from the person they mistakenly delivered it to yesterday, passed it off to the regular mail (since clearly, they can’t get the job done) and I received it today. Of course, the box was mangled in usual UPS fashion leaving the Wand Company box smooshed but thankfully the comm is in that nice plastic case to protect it. This communicator is a real gem! I absolutely love it and it really puts my others (some of which I paid double back in the 80s for non working ones!) to shame. Probably won’t use it much as a phone but it sure is fun to play with! Hee! Hee!

So I read all the comments when everyone was just starting to get their communicators delivered to them. I was adamant about putting the Velcro on mine when it arrived. Took the exact pattern for the Alpha Velcro off of Herocomm and started testing it on the charger. I have the 2" peel and stick Velcro that looks perfect (from eBay). Testing out of the box with the Velcro stuck on ( magnets held it very firm on the cradle ) and after 8 hours the light was still red/yellow. To test that it was charging I moved the comm a bit off center and sure enough it flashed red as the manual stated would happen. Upon straightening it on the charging cradle went back to red/yellow. This told me it was in fact charging but VERY SLOWLY! I peeled the Velcro off with surprising ease, probably due to the unusual Kydex… This stuff usually is near impossible to remove once placed on my JL builds!! Anyhow once put back on the charger the light turned green/blue within an hour. So…after all the speculation and ideas… Simply put the Velcro in place and when charging peel it off, set it aside and re-apply when charged! I have charged 4 or 5 times and the Velcro lays back down perfectly every time. When it no longer adheres I’ll cut another Alpha patch and the fun continues!! By the way I carry it in a Karl leather pouch which protects it beautifully, quite bulky under a polo or T shirt but is fun to carry when I leave the house!

I think I have a second run communicator! Speculation about when they would start to ship but… I had to return mine for replacement and the Wand company sent another. Well I’ve had it for a few days and JUST now noticed the left button is also a jog button! That must be the fix for the problem of customers trying to jog the left button and breaking it due to fragile attachment. ( hence the addendum notice about only pressing the left button we all got in the box.) it presses for on/off and double-presses for Uhura’s message but also jogs left,right,up & down just as the right button with the smooth “click” feel. Just an FYI, if you get one and the left jogs… 2nd upgraded batch.

Same function, they just used another jog button. Seems they started production and then realized customers would inadvertantly try to jog the left button, thus the warning flyer in the boxes. Actually a great fix since the jog button is heartier and customers can’t break it if manhandled.

Well there goes the left jog button theory! Just checked over at TPZ and Richard from the Wand Company responded to my comment about the left jog, quote “The left-hand button is definitely not a jog button, but in some cases it does feel surprisingly like one, which is why we added the warning notice to the boxes. Please don’t try to use it as a jog button, as it may break (and definitely won’t do anything useful or interesting).” End quote. I swear this is identical to the right button… Am I crazy!??

On a more positive note, there are a couple of little Easter eggs in the Communicator that some of you might enjoy…

We’ve had a few people complain about the lack of Kirk quotes in the Communicator, but leaving out his voice was intentional – after some debate, we decided that the owner’s experience with the Communicator should be self-consistent, with the owner being placed in the role of Captain Kirk, so all of the voice clips are other crew members (or Starfleet Command) talking to Kirk, but you never hear the Captain’s voice coming from the Communicator. As someone else once said to us, “Nothing kills the buzz of being Kirk faster than hearing his voice talking to you.”

However, there is a hidden voice clip with Kirk’s voice – if you press in and hold the left-hand button, then jog up and hold the right-hand button, after a second you hear Spock saying, “Can you give us your present location, Captain?”, but if you keep holding the buttons for a further 5 seconds, you’ll hear Kirk say, “Enterprise, do you read me?”

There’s also another Easter egg if you press in and hold the left-hand button, then jog right and hold the right-hand button. Keep holding the buttons for several seconds until after you hear the hailing beep. If your comm is connected to a phone via Bluetooth, you should then see a set of numbers on the phone’s screen. No prizes for figuring out their significance, though!

Lastly, there’s one other hidden function that we figured might be useful for troubleshooting certain situations: you can erase the Communicator’s “paired device list” (so it forgets any phones that it has been paired with) by pressing and holding the left-hand button, then jog left and hold the right-hand button. Keep holding the buttons for a few seconds after the emergency signal ends, then you should hear the comm erasing the paired device list.

That is very cool!!! Thank you for sharing these tidbits. I can’t figure out the numbers significance though. My phone just says “Welcome to Verizon Wireless. Your call can’t be completed as dialed” and it shows the long set of numbers at the top.

The TWC comm is slightly heavier and feels like more of a real world item, which it is of course. Also, aside from the Kydex texture, the lid is the biggest detraction from Alpha. Not just the shape alterations needed for construction practicalities, but the overall look is not that warm well worn brass because it isn’t brass.

Still TWC did a wonderful job and I’ll leave mine alone since I want to use it.